Nightly Roundup: Sixers beat Cavs & Flyers fall to Canes

Welcome back to the Nightly Roundup! Coming out a little later than usual but I had to get the Sixers’ win on the blog. The Flyers dropped a game in regulation for the first time since the Super Bowl. Championship week begins with the Big Ten and the Patriot League. Let’s look back at March 1st, 2018…

The Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-97 last night in Cleveland. The Sixers had lost 11 straight games to the Cavs coming into last night and complete team effort is what it took to beat Lebron with all five starters plus Marco Belinelli scoring in double-figures.

The Sixers started off hot making nine of their first eleven shots. Despite cooling off significantly and Lebron basically taking the game over entirely, the Sixers were able to keep their lead into the half and maintain it through the third.

The fourth quarter brought the drama as the Sixers nearly blew a 13 point lead with 8:35 left. The Cavs cut the Sixers’ lead to one point with over two minutes left in the game and it seemed like Lebron would take complete control. The Sixers showed signs of experience outscoring Cleveland 13-3 in the final minutes.

Ben Simmons and JJ Redick outmatched their Cleveland counterparts in the backcourt–a mix between George Hill, Rodney Hill, Kyle Korver, and Jordan Clarkson (more on him in a minute)–and that seemed to be one of the biggest difference makers. Well that, and Joel Embiid putting up 17 points, 14 boards, and 6 assists.

Jordan Clarkson would be ejected from the game in the final seconds after shoving a ball into the back of Dario Saric–Saric had just dunked with the win clearly all-but-official. Whether either guy was in the wrong is debatable. Saric dunking comes into the “unwritten rules of sports” such as a baseball player over-celebrating a home run with the lead in-hand and Clarkson’s response is like the opposing pitcher purposefully hitting the over-celebrator.

Needless to say, this win was MASSIVE for a Sixers team who struggled to even hold on to the ball two nights prior against the Heat. The Sixers tied the Cavs in the turnover battle (nine TOs apiece) and dominated the boards 54 to 45 (14 Sixer OREBs against 35 Cavs DREBs & 10 Cavs OREBs against 40 Sixer DREBs). The Sixers return home Friday night to the Charlotte Hornets.

Other NBA Scores:

Blazers beat T-Wolves 108-99—Karl-Anthony Towns and Damian Lillard both put up over 30 points. Despite a strong record, Minnesota is abysmal on the road–now 13-20.

The Flyers looked tired for most of the game as they struggled to put shots on net and hold to the puck, in general. Petr Mrazek looked strong but his defense kept failing in front of him. Carolina was a team on a six-game losing skid and playing desperate hockey. The Flyers, while not complacent, just couldn’t match Carolina’s tenacity.

The one saving grace was Travis Konecny scoring again. TK staying hot and supplementing Captain Claude, Couts, and Voracek on offense will be crucial down the stretch. Ivan Provorov showed his knee is made of iron taking a slap shot off of it in the first period and still playing over 20 minutes.

Obligatory Juju guy statement: the WFC crew acknowledged the streak on the big screen. Had to be the reason for the loss, right? It’s like adding up your golf score on the 16th hole and collapsing. The Flyers hit the Florida swing this weekend playing in Tampa Saturday afternoon and then in Miami against the Panthers on Sunday.

Other NHL Scores:

Bruins DUMMY Penguins 8-4—Pittsburgh recapturing their road struggles as David Krejci netted a hat trick and Rick Nash scored again for the Bruins.

Panthers edge Devils 3-2—Actually a big result in the playoff rush. The Devils are still in the 1st Wild Card slot but missed the chance to take third from PIT. Florida now sits three points behind Columbus for WC2 in the East.

Quick Look at Championship Week:

#2 Michigan State got by Wisconsin Friday afternoon 63-60–The biggest reason for today’s Roundup coming out late was that I watched this game at lunch instead of writing. A tight contest that MSU just got by in. Wisconsin looked good despite a down season. The good news for the Badgers is that they’re very young and talented. Watch out next year.

Lehigh falls to BU in Patriot League Quarters 88-82—The Mountain Hawks (my alma mater for those newer readers) had been one of the hottest teams in the PL coming into the tournament but BU’s Max Mahoney stifled Lehigh to end their season. The Patriot League seemed to be Bucknell’s to lose but with 2-Seed Navy also losing last night, the title is all but the Bisons’.

With the massive amount of snow hitting the Philadelphia area, I cannot wait to sit on my couch watching sports all weekend. Be sure to stay tuned with THE THUNDERBLOG for all the analysis of this weekend’s action!